Behold, the new and improved Marlins Park, where the Rays will face the fish over the next two days.

On Tuesday evening, the Tampa Bay Rays will start a two-game Interleague series against their in-state rivals, the Miami Marlins. The Rays are coming off a series loss against the Yankees, while the Marlins were swept in a rain-shortened, two-game series against the Mets.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

Tampa Bay has to be careful. After getting off to a great start of the season, the Rays are a tepid 5-6 in May including the two games they just dropped at home to New York. It was just their second series loss of the season and oddly enough, both have come at Trop. They now lead the AL East by just a half a game over New York.

As Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) wrote, in their first 24 games, the Rays scored three or fewer runs seven times and two or less only three times. In their last 15, they’ve scored three or fewer runs nine times, and two or less seven. Related, for as good as their pitching has been, they are 5-11 when scoring three or less, 19-4 with more.

What’s more, they are hitting .237 wRISP (24th in the majors and .138 (25th) with the bases loaded.

We need to have some guys start swinging the bats a little better. Myself being at the top of that. We haven’t been able to generate offense as of late besides (Saturday). We have to get back to clicking on all cylinders and hopefully, we can do that in Miami come Tuesday.

— Kevin Kiermaier

This is a huge series for the Rays because a couple of wins against the worst team in the league could help to stop the bleeding some. It is even more important that they take a couple of games in Miami since they have three games against the Yankees on the road this upcoming weekend, followed by two at home against the Dodgers and four on the road against Cleveland.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

The Rays went an abysmal 2-4 against the Marlins in 2018, but are 6-3 in Interleague play this season.

Noteworthiness

Over the life of the series, Kevin Cash will lean on Charlie Morton (3-0, 2.64 ERA), and likely Jalen Beeks (2-0, 2.48 ERA), who will follow an opener in the series finale. Don Mattingly will respond with Caleb Smith (3-0, 2.11 ERA) and Jose Urena (1-5, 4.82 ERA).

Charlie Morton allowed two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and four walks over five innings on Wednesday. Morton left with a deficit, but the Rays were able to tie the game late and get Morton off the hook. The right-hander is putting together a strong start to the season, allowing more than two runs in just one of his eight starts. He does have a 4.3 BB/9, but opposing hitters are batting .208 overall, and he’s given up just two home runs. Morton is 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 56 strikeouts across 44-1/3 innings this season. He is 6-4 with a 4.09 ERA over 12 career starts against the Marlins.

Caleb Smith allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out 11 over 6-2/3 innings on Tuesday. Smith stumbled early — allowing an earned run in the first and third innings — but shut down the Cubs’ offense for the balance of his start. He also generated 15 called strikes and 20 swinging strikes. Smith has paired a 0.89 WHIP and 2.11 ERA with 56 strikeouts across 42-2/3 innings this season. He is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in one career start against the Rays (3-1/3 innings of work). Smith relies primarily on a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball and a swing-and-miss 83 mph slider, while also mixing in an 83 mph — you guessed it, whiffy — changeup. Key Matchup: Guillermo Heredia (1-2, 2B, 2 RBI)

Jalen Beeks allowed one run on three hits over 3-1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. He fanned three and walked none. The southpaw followed Ryne Stanek and continues to pitch well when utilized as a bulk reliever. With the loss of Tyler Glasnow to the IL, there is the potential for Beeks to temporarily join the starting rotation. He has a 2.48 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 2.9 K/BB across 21 innings to begin the season.

Jose Urena allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out three over seven innings on Wednesday. Urena allowed eight baserunners, although he was able to escape trouble most of the night. After giving four combined home runs in his last two starts, Urena kept the ball in the yard and generated 75% groundballs. He has a 1-5 record with a 4.82 ERA and 6.2 K/9 over eight starts this season. Urena is 0-0 with a 0.84 in seven games (one start) against the Rays. He relies primarily on a worm-killer 96 mph four-seam fastball with obvious tail and an 86 mph 12-6 slider while also mixing in a whiffy 91 mph changeup with slight arm-side fade. Key Matchups: Travis d’Arnaud (2-5, RBI, BB), Daniel Robertson (1-3)

Steven Geltz pitches against the Miami Marlins in the first inning Friday. (Photo courtesy of Alan Diaz/AP Photo)

This is the best/worst game.

— Rickie Dixon

I could be wrong, yet I can’t help but feel that Rickie offered the best recap of the Tampa Bay Rays 10-9, extra inning loss to the Miami Marlins Friday night — and he did so in only six words. Still for whatever reason, I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. My compulsion, sadly, was to add to his summary. Wordiness is my cross to bear. Whatever the case, it was the best game because the Rays were able to close a seven run deficit in one inning, then rally once again to push the game into extra innings. And let’s be honest, this extra inning game was much more exciting than that six-hour-plus behemoth in the Bronx. Yet in true yin/yang fashion, Tampa Bay got into a huge hole early on, then inevitably lost.

Instead of a complete game summary, what follows is a recap by way of the pitchers.

Kevin Cash went into things with an ambitious idea: don’t allow a Rays pitcher to step into the batter’s box. In doing so, he cobbled together what amounted to a bullpen rotation. Cash was successful in some respects, yet he also shot himself in the foot in others — had the game gone longer than 10 innings, only Kevin Jepsen was left in the bullpen, and no batters were left on the bench. Anyhow, the Rays manager chose to start Steve Geltz; a pitcher who hadn’t started a game since his senior year in high school (2005).

Steve Geltz

Geltz quickly gave up a leadoff hit to the speedy Dee Gordon, who promptly swiped second base. To be fair Rene Rivera (in trying to gun down Gordon) threw a strike to Asdrubal Cabrera who was covering second base, but the Marlins’ infielder got in just ahead of the tag. Geltz remained poised and coxed a chopper back to the mound by Christian Yelich. The Rays starter caught Gordon off second base and fired the ball behind him, yet Gordon was able to stay in the run down long enough for Yelich to move up to second. Yelich then moved to third on a wild pitch, and came home when Michael Morse poked a base hit through the right side on a good fastball on the outside corner.

Geltz struck out Martin Prado to end the inning, then worked around a walk to pitch a clean second frame. Interestingly enough, it was apparent that Mike Redmond (Marlins manager) had his crew read the scouting report on the Rays’ hurlers, and they expected the rising fastball to be a part of the repertoire. Ian Malinowski (DRaysBay) spoke to that in his game recap:

I saw that both Stanton and Morse were actually swinging a little bit high on Geltz’s fastball, which is unusual with all the rise it has. Seemed to me like they’d gotten the scouting report. I was happy Geltz would not have to face them a second time this game — one of the perks of being a reliever.

Erasmo Ramirez

Miami built a seven-run lead, thanks to a six-run fourth against Erasmo Ramirez. Ramirez had no command of his pitches, and he was unable to establish his fastball because of it. When a pitcher who depends upon a change-up cannot establish his fastball, there is approximately a 0.0% chance that (or any) pitch will be effective. Marcell Ozuna started the inning from hell with single to second. Jarrod Saltalamacchia followed with a four pitch walk. Adeiny Hechavarria laced an outside slider to center for an RBI double. Two batters later Ramirez walked the bases loaded before Yelich singled to center, scoring Saltalamacchia and Hechavarria in the process. The carnage wasn’t done.

Giancarlo Stanton plated two more on a double to left, then Morse drove in Stanton on a single to right. By the time Ramirez struck out the final two batters (Prado and Ozuna) to end the inning, the Rays were down 8-1. Ouch.

Grant Balfour and Matt Andriese

Grant Balfour and Matt Andriese combined to post scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth innings. In the case of Balfour, he worked around a Saltalamacchia double to right by forcing a pair of grounders to short out of Hechavarria and Gordon, with a Dan Haren fly-ball out to right sandwiched in between. Andriese worked around a Stanton walk, and notably struck out Morse (swinging) on a filthy sweeping slider.

Kirby Yates

Kirby Yates got the nod in the seventh after the Rays put up a seven run top of the inning. Yates worked a foul out from Ozuna, then posted back-to-back strikeouts of Saltalamacchia and Hechavarria. He came back out in the eighth and gave up a 1-1 single to center off the bat of Donovan Solano.

Jeff Beliveau

Beliveau came into the game and quickly coaxed a bunt out of Gordon which Rivera fielded quickly, and fired to second to get the lead runner. Athough, with an open base, Gordon swiped his second bag of the night before striking out Yelich (swinging). With two outs and a fast runner on second, Cash called upon Ernesto Frieri to face Stanton.

Ernesto Frieri

Despite a lucky foul popper (which landed in the stands) on a very obvious mistake that leaked over the heart of the plate, Frieri got ahead of Stanton with an 0-2 count. Frieri was one pitch away from getting out of the inning, leaving one to wonder what pitch he would throw; A sweeping slider? A change-up down in the zone? A fastball outside of the zone? The answer was, none of the above. Frieri came back with a similar pitch (to the previous two) in a similar location!

Strikezone plot, courtesy of Brooks Baseball.

Stanton did what he’s wont to do, send an RBI single up the middle. Now down by one, Frieri allowed a stolen base and a walk before getting Ichiro Suzuki to end the inning on a ground out to short. Tampa Bay scored a run in the top of the inning, and the reliever came back in the ninth. Frieri worked a beautiful seven pitch 1-2-3 frame (two fly-ball outs, and a foul out) to send the game into extra innings.

Brad Boxberger

Down to two relievers left in the pen, Cash called upon Boxberger in the 10th. Boxy struck out Solano on three pitches, but allowed a Gordon double on a good change-up that fell just fair up the right side. Yelich was next. The left-fielder saw only fastballs from Boxberger, three low (ball, strike, strike) and one of the rising variety. Yelich swung over the pitch for an opposite field base hit which scored Gordon easily. A bad pitch? Not necessarily. Credit Yelich for reading the scouting report and guessing right.

Strikezone plot, courtesy of Brooks Baseball.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the pair of rallies by Tampa Bay. For that, I’ll depend upon the wise words of Neil Solondz:

Down 8-1 heading to the seventh inning, the Rays sent 11 hitters to the plate against three Marlins relievers, tying the score on an Asdrubal Cabrera single, his third hit of the night. A batter prior, pinch-hitter David DeJesus belted a three-run double to right that was nearly a grand slam. The previous three runs in the inning scored on bases-loaded walks to Logan Forsythe, Brandon Guyer and Kevin Kiermaier. Prior to the seventh, Kevin Kiermaier’s solo homer had been the only Rays tally.

The Rays rallied in the ninth against closer Steve Cishek to tie the score again. Brandon Guyer doubled to right, and held as Kiermaier struck out. Bobby Wilson in his first at-bat as a Rays player blooped a single to right. Cabrera then beat about a potential double play ball to first as Guyer scored to tie the game.

The New What Next

Chris Archer will make his second start of the season. He will butt heads with Jarred Cosart who was pushed to the fifth starter spot due to a blister. Archer faced the fish once in his career, losing 1-0 on a bases-loaded walk by Yelich. It was the second time in club history the Rays were defeated 1-0 on a bases-loaded walk, along with June 26, 2005 against, you guessed it, the Marlins. You can read about the pitching match-up in our series preview.

Yes Evan Longoria, we all feel that way right about now. (Photo courtesy of Rob Foldy/Getty Images)

Do you remember when the Rays would swarm the opposing pitcher? You know, back in the olden days of last year, when the offense would knock the pitcher off his game early on — not allowing him to get comfortable. Those sure were the good old days. I certainly would have killed for that approach at the plate last night. Tampa Bay fell to their Florida rivals by a 3-1 margin in Miami. The Marlins improved to 21-11 at home (29-28 overall), while the Rays fell even further back in the rankings. The good guys have now dropped seven consecutive games, scoring all of 17 runs in the process. This isn’t good, and yes…this sucks.

Tampa Bay fell behind early in a disastrous three-run, two hit, two walk, 28-pitch first inning. Alex Cobb had a hard time commanding his fastball and changeup, and the hit hungry Marlins took full advantage by working good counts, and forcing predictability out of a largely unpredictable Cobb. Working largely off his curve ball, Cobb finally put things back in order, coaxing a huge double play out of Garrett Jones for the first and second outs of the inning, then wringing up Adeiny Hechavarria, swinging, two batters later — ultimately limiting the to damage to three, and ending the inning.

From the point of Hechevarria’s strikeout onward, Cobb turned things around and kept the Rays in the game. The split-change throwing RHP sat down 13 consecutive batters — striking out five while inducing four ground outs (or infield liners), including this fourth inning web gem:

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It would be another four innings before the next Marlins batter reached base. Brad Boxberger came on in relief in the seventh, and dominated. Boxberger struck out the side — all swinging — on 15 pitches (10 strikes), and Jake McGee pitched the final two frames of the game, striking out five of the six batters faced. McGee, impressively, has now retired the last 20 men faced and hasn’t allowed a run in 14-1/3 innings.

For the Marlins, three runs were all they needed against the offensively strapped Rays. As they’ve been accustomed to this season, Tampa Bay went 0-5 wRISP. Desmond Jennings plated their only run on a fifth inning double which scored Sean Rodriguez from first. Threatening with a runner on second, Logan Forsythe hit a 2-0 fly-out to right, and Jerry Sands — who pinch hit for Ali Solis after only 4-1/3 innings behind the dish — lined out, bringing Alex Cobb to the plate. Cobb worked a full count, but struck out looking to end the inning. If I may, between the solid contact he made in the third, and the full count strikeout to end the fifth, Cobb easily put together two of the Rays’ best at-bats of the night.

Of the 33 men that came to the plate, only 14 got ahead in the count. What’s more, six Rays struck out looking — largely at borderline pitches on the corners of the plate. BA made an interesting observation in the middle of Ben Zobrist’s first at-bat. The Rays announcer noted that Zobrist said something to the home plate umpire following the second strike — an outside fastball (or change, I can’t remember) — presumably inquiring if that’s how far he’d take the strike-zone. Two pitches later, Zobrist struck out looking on a 1-2 pitch on the inside corner. It all boils down to this: the Rays hitters didn’t protect with two strikes — especially the right handed hitters. All this is evidenced by the five caught looking strikeouts against Randy Wolf, who’s largely a contact pitcher.

Strike zone plot with two strikes against righties. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)

Bad news. The Rays announced that OF Wil Myers has a slight stress fracture in his right wrist, and he will miss at least two months of the season. They went on to say that Myers will be in a cast from five to six weeks before he can start rehabbing his wrist.

If I may, I don’t understand why Joe Maddon started Logan Forsythe at second, and Ben Zobrist in right, last night. Forsythe went 0-3, while also grounding into a crucial seventh inning double play. Meanwhile, Kevin Kiermaier got a pinch hit single in his only at-bat against LHP Mike Dunn. Mind you, Forsythe was expected to be a lefty masher, yet he’s been anything but so far this season. Kiermaier has been fantastic in the field and at the plate this season, slashing .316 BA/.316 OBP/.632 SLG/.949 OPS in 19 plate appearances, with two homers, two runs, and three RBI. Granted 19 plate appearances is an incredibly small sample size. Yet, when you factor in Kiermaier’s numbers in Triple-A (.305 BA/.362 OBP/.461 SLG/.823 OPS, with three homers, 28 runs, and 13 RBI), and compare them to Forsythe’s overall numbers in 41 plate appearances, Kiermaier should see more playing time in right while Myers is on the DL. He holds more promise, offensively, than Forsythe.

Red Sox RHP Workman was handed down a six-game suspension for throwing at Evan Longoria, Friday. He was also fined an undisclosed amount.

On the heels of six consecutive losses, the Tampa Bay Rays will return to the Sunshine State, Monday, for a four game series against the Miami Marlins. The first two of the four will take place at Marlins Park, whereas the final two will cap things off at the Trop.

What was once a certainty, that the Rays would walk away with the Citrus Series title, has now become murky. At 28-28, the Marlins are exceeding everyone’s expectations (hyperbole withstanding) — especially at home. The Marlins have the best home record (20-11) in all of baseball, while the Rays have vastly underperformed on the road. Tampa Bay has gone 11-20 away from the Trop, having dropped their last eight road games.

Besides the fact that Tampa Bay won all four meetings against Miami last season, a handful of things favor the Rays. First, Tampa Bay has strung together five consecutive wins (and 13 of-their-last 14) against the Marlins. Also, despite their MLB leading home record, the Marlins have dropped four straight at Marlins Park. What’s more, they lost ace RHP Jose Fernandez, reigning NL rookie of the year, to Tommy John surgery. A caveat however: the rest of the pitching rotation has been solid, and Miami’s offense — led by OF Giancarlo Stanton (.311 BA, 16 HR, 51 RBI) — ranks second in the NL in runs.

Rays and Marlins series starters.

Rays and Marlins offensive production at home and away.

Rays and Marlins, by the numbers.

Randy Wolf: The Rays, as a team, have accrued all of 1/3 of an inning of work against Randy Wolf in the last three years — back in 2012, when Wolf was a member of the Orioles. Wolf was signed by the Marlins following the announcement of Fernandez’s season ending surgery. After a couple of relief outings, Wolf put together a 5 IP/9 H/6 R/4 ER outing against the Brewers in a 7-1 loss May 25th. The 37 year-old LHP has a fairly hittable fastball, curveball, and change up — especially when he leaves those pitches up, on the glove side of the plate.

Tom Koehler: The Rays last faced Koehler a year ago when he posted a very good 8 IP/7 H/3 R outing, resulting in a Marlins’ loss. Though he’s coming off a pair of losses, his last start resulted in a seven inning, three-run quality outing. What can be expected out of the Marlins 27 year-old RHP? The Rays need to be prepared for a mid 90’s fastball with good run, and an quality 12-6 curve ball with a lot of depth.

Here’s an example of Koehler’s fastball, thrown at 94 mph to Hector Gimenez in a game against the ChiSox. (GIF courtesy of Fangraphs)

Here’s an example of Koehler’s curveball, resulting in a strikeout of Dayan Viciedo.

Jacob Turner: The Rays have never faced Turner, who’s described by John Sickels of Minor League Ball as being, “A 6-5, 210 pound right-handed hitter and thrower, born May 21, 1991. Turner can hit 95 MPH but usually works at 90-93, using a two-seamer to generate sinking action and ground balls rather than pure velocity. He mixes in a curveball and changeup, both rated highly-positively by scouts, and he’s added a cutter this spring. With a four-pitch arsenal and a good feel for his craft, he has the upside of a number two starter. His velocity has returned to normal over the last six weeks and the Tigers are pleased with the progress of his secondary pitches.”

Noteworthiness

It’s a loss of confidence more than anything else right now with our guys. They need our support & they will get it. It’s not complicated. — Joe Maddon (via Twitter)

Maddon went on, “I truly believe our offense is better than this.” Playing the role of contrarian, Evan Longoria noted that the morale is there, so is belief they can turn it around, but the concern is that they get too far back, and dig too deep a hole. “We’re not playing good baseball, we’re not doing the little things right,” said Longoria. On the subject of the offense, Longoria continued, the “Confidence level isn’t there.”

James Loney has a team-leading .293 average, 26 points higher than the next regular. He collected three hits over his final seven at-bats of the weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. Loney has struck out just four times in his past 10 games.

Shocker, Jose Molina went hitless in six at-bats in the series against the Red Sox, and has just four hits in his last 27 (.148) with no runs and no RBI.

Ouch. Tampa Bay has 14 consecutive starts without a win for Rays starters, matching the longest stretch since 2010-11.

Ben Zobrist is 9-for-18, with two homers in five games at Marlins Park.

Adeiny Hechavarria has a modest four-game hitting streak, with two of those having been multi-hit contests. He went 5-for-11 (.455) in the Braves series. Hechavarria has been going the other way with his swings, something he did early in the season when his average flirted around .300.

Tampa Bay took game four of the Citrus Series from the Marlins by a score of 5-2, after rookie RHP Alex Colome put together a solid 5-2/3 IP debut. Giving up one run (un-earned) on five hits and two walks, Colome struck out seven, while becoming the eighth Rays pitcher to win his debut outing.

Jamey Wright and Fernando Rodney also looked good, with Rodney putting together his fourth consecutive scoreless outing. Don’t look now, but Rodney’s given up only a walk in 3-1/3 innings of work.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge James Loney and Matt Joyce’s offensive contributions. Joyce went yard in the sixth, sending a two-run shot to right, while James Loney hit a solo shot to right in the seventh.

Tampa Bay heads to Cleveland Friday, just one game behind the second place Yankees. I’d reckon it’s kismet that the Yankees got swept in the Subway Series. The Rays are now five games over .500 for the first time this season, having won five games in a row.

We’ll post more later, including our series preview. Until then, Let’s Go Rays!